Nero

"From that day forth...my arm changed... and a voice echoed "Power. Give me more power!" And if I become a demon, so be it. I will endure the exile. Anything to protect her."

- Nero after his Devil Trigger activates for the first time

Nero is the main protagonist in the fourth installment of the Devil May Cry series. Nero was a Holy Knight in the Order of the Sword, a religious order that worships Sparda and fights to protect the world from demons. Kyrie is the childhood friend of Nero as well as a singer during the Order's ceremonies. He and Kyrie both fall in love some point prior to the beginning of the game; this love plays a major part during the events of Devil May Cry 4.

Development
The Devil May Cry 4 Material Collection Artbook shows that there was a lot of development over Nero's character. It shows several concepts of him, including a few in white clothes similar to those worn by the rest of the Order, some which are very aristocratic in appearance, and some that are similar to Vergil. In most of them, Nero looks slimmer, and his eyes are a different color (predominantly yellow). The artbook also has several images depicting Nero with a full Devil Trigger that has wings, but it quickly changes to the spectre-like form seen in the released game.

According to Devil May Cry 4: Deadly Fortune novel, Nero was originally named after a sculptor called Rodan, who created Gates of Hell, a monumental sculptural group depicting scenes from Dante Alighieri's Inferno in high relief. However, because the crew preferred a two-syllable name, and because they were afraid "Rodan" might give too much of an "intellectual" impression, they decided to go for a different name. According to the novel, Morihashi Bingo accidentally came up with the name Nero, and it has nothing to do with Nelo Angelo.

In earlier publicity art, screenshots, and trailers for Devil May Cry 4, Nero's Devil Bringer originally had a golden glow before it was changed to blue; the reason for this is unknown.

Nero has some sort of connection with Sparda, due to the connection he has with the Yamato and his alleged place in the Sparda bloodline. While the exact details of this have yet to be established by Capcom, the Devil May Cry 4 novel contains "hints" that Nero is Vergil's son, and this claim has allegedly been confirmed at "Captivate 2009" by one of the Capcom employees who worked on the game's localization.

Appearance
Nero wears a long, black-purple and red coat with The Order of the Sword's insignia sewn into both shoulders. He also wears a red zip-up hoodie/vest underneath this coat, a navy muscle-shirt beneath that, and a pair of dark blue pants.

In addition, wears two rings on his normal hand: one on his index finger that has the emblem of The Order of the Sword on its face, and another on his ring finger which has a rose design on its face, identical to the designs on his belt buckle, coat clasp, and coat buttons. He has white hair brushed down and blue eyes, similar to Dante and Vergil.

Personality
In contrast with Dante's laid-back and occasionally flirtatious attitude, Nero is a serious, cynical, sardonic and somewhat anti-social person. He is a choleric character, prone to mood swings, and has been seen to both cry and become very angry multiple times during the events of Devil May Cry 4.

He is also very rebellious, much like Dante and Sparda before him: he wields guns, despite the Order's general prohibition against them; he doesn't really believe in the Order's religion; and cares little for the legend of Sparda. Despite this, he is also very loyal to his friends, especially to Kyrie and Credo. Even though he doesn't care for the Order of the Sword's religion, Nero still participates in some of their activities out of respect for Credo and Kyrie. However, his rebellious nature leads to the Order having him work alone on "special jobs." In fact, Nero actually prefers to act as a lone wolf.

Like Dante, Nero is a somewhat arrogant and cocky person. He shares Dante's habit of casually mouthing off to even the most powerful of his enemies, making taunts and sarcastic jokes on the battlefield. Nero also taunts in a similar, sarcastic fashion to Dante: One taunt involves him bowing mockingly and asking, "Shall we dance?"; another has him aiming the Blue Rose at his enemies and saying "Bang!" instead of shooting; and still another has him applaud his enemies.

When he first received the Devil Bringer, he considered it a curse, and covered it with a medical sling to hide it out of shame. However, over time he begins to accept his demonic power but doesn't fully accept it until the end of Devil May Cry 4.

Nero is one of the few characters in the Devil May Cry series to actually swear and showcased offensive and crude behavior to others. Such instances includes: He calls Agnus a "jackass" and his laboratory a "hellhole". He also almost calls Agnus a "son of bitch" later, but is cut short. Latern, He tells Sanctus to "go and blow himself", could say "I'm not interested in your bullshit" in the first battle with the vicar. Lastly, he gives Dante the middle finger before being absorbed by The Savior.

Before Devil May Cry 4
Mentioned in an incident report, a number of demons appeared suddenly from the Mitis Forest and attacked Fortuna. Luckily, Nero was present at the scene and exterminated all of the demons. During this incident, Kyrie, was injured while Nero received a minor injury to his right shoulder. Nero's sword, the Red Queen, was damaged and sent for repair. Kyrie recovered completely, but Nero's shoulder never healed. Initially he believed it to be an infection, but upon realizing it was demonic power, he began training with it in secret. Nero continued to carry his arm, possessed by an evil force, in a sling after the incident in an attempt to keep it out of sight of others.

Devil May Cry 4
On the day of the Festival of the Blade, Nero barely manages to make it to Kyrie's performance in time after dealing with a group of demons, with a man in red secretly watching him from the rooftops. He leaves her a gift and then prepares to leave, having grown tired of Sanctus's preaching. Just before he can, though, the mysterious man in red bursts in through the glass ceiling during a prayer and slays Sanctus, the leader of the Order.

Before the assassin (who is later revealed to be Dante) can confirm the kill, Credo, along with a battalion of knights confront him, but are completely outmatched. Kyrie, seeing that Dante is going to kill her brother, finally escapes Nero's hold on her and runs to them, but is knocked down in the process. When Nero sees the man in red looming over Kyrie, he kicks him in the face and orders Credo and Kyrie to go get help while he stalls Dante.

The two fight, and Nero is forced to reveal his Devil Bringer. With it, he is able to knock Dante back and impale him with his own sword on Sparda's statue. But Dante, who isn't just a mere mortal, frees himself and jumps down. Nero states that Dante isn't human, to which Dante then pulls Rebellion out and comments that they're the same, and points out the knights he had slain, who turned out to be demons. Confused, Nero watches as Dante flees the scene.

Shortly after, Kyrie returns Nero's sword, Red Queen, at Credo's request. Credo gives an order to Nero - to pursue the man in red, with witnesses seeing him heading to Fortuna Castle. Suddenly, all three feel the building shudder, and leave to discover the city's citizens being attacked by demons. While Kyrie and Credo lead the survivors back to headquarters, Nero fights off the remaining demons.

In order to pursue Dante, Nero must go through Fortuna, which has been totally overrun with demons. His pursuit of Dante leads him to discover the source of these demons: In a small village at the base of Lamina Peak, just outside the city, Nero finds the first Hell Gate and fights its guardian, Berial the Conqueror of the Fire Hell.

After defeating Berial, Nero makes his way through a supernatural blizzard to Fortuna Castle, where he meets Gloria, a new member of the Order whom he's never seen before. After some exposition, Nero and Gloria go their separate ways. When Nero enters Fortuna Castle, he finds it infested with demons and starts to investigate. He finds the second Hell Gate and fights Bael, a large toad-like demon whose specialty is ice.

While exploring the castle, Nero stumbles upon a secret underground laboratory of the Order, where he meets Agnus, the Order's Chief Alchemist. Agnus reveals that he created the Hell Gates and uses them to summon demons, which he needs for his experiments. Agnus also reveals that by using this power, Sanctus hopes to rule the world by using the Savior, the god-like being the Order constructed.

Agnus has Nero nearly killed by his Angelos, but Nero dramatically unleashes his Devil Trigger, gaining a phantom-like appearance. In this form, Nero manages to repair Yamato, the broken sword of Dante's fallen brother, Vergil, which Agnus had kept in a containment field in his lab. Nero forces Agnus to reveal his Angelo form and retreat.

Nero heads towards The Order's headquarters, believing Credo knows more about what is going on. He crosses a bridge which leads into a cave concealed by the Foris Falls and finds himself in the Mitis Forest. Here, Dante bumps into him, but their encounter is very brief. Dante apologizes snidely to Nero, stating that "it'll have to wait", and then jumps off a cliff. Nero fights countless demons on his way through the forest and eventually banishes Echidna the She-Viper, a dragon-like demon who treats the demons of the forest as her children. After that, Nero reaches the Headquarters without any other surprises.

At the entrance he is met by Credo, whereupon Nero asks who Dante is. Credo draws his blade and exclaims that Nero does not have the authority to demand answers from him.

Nero reflexively uses his Devil Bringer to block an attack from Credo, exposing his secret. Realizing that Agnus, who brought news of Nero's demonic power to the Orders' commanders only moments earlier, was right, Credo transforms into his Angelo form and declares that Nero is under arrest. A fight ensues, after which Credo returns to his human form and Nero emerges victorious, but Kyrie, appearing seemingly from nowhere, screams out when she beholds what she interprets as Nero, with a demon arm, trying to kill Credo.

Nero tries to explain and calm Kyrie, but Agnus swoops in and captures her, revealing Sanctus's desire to use her to get to Nero. Credo is furious as Agnus flies away with Kyrie, so he asks Nero to put aside this fight and vows to get to the truth from Sanctus. While Credo flies off to see Sanctus, Nero pursues Agnus and Kyrie.

Nero finds and fights Agnus in the Order's headquarters and succeeds in defeating him. Just as Nero is about to finish off Agnus, an army of Bianco Angelos, lead by none other than Sanctus himself, in the armor of an Alto Angelo swoops in to his aid.

As Sanctus leaves with Kyrie, Nero jumps after her, but he is only able to grab her necklace, which he gave her as a gift back at the cathedral.Nero turns around and continues to pursue Agnus, Sanctus, and Kyrie, however, he runs into Dante on his way out. Nero tries to ignore Dante, but Dante reveals that he wants Yamato back because it used to belong to his brother, Vergil.

Nero refuses, causing another fight between them. Although Nero is wielding Yamato, Dante is able to beat him, though he will not kill him. Although Dante wants his brother's sword back, he allows Nero to keep it for now, seeing how he needs it and that he is calm headed. Dante asks Nero's name and so he reveals it to Dante, also commenting that each other's names were "not bad", showing their mutual respect.

Nero later finds Sanctus next to a giant statue resembling Sparda, which is the Savior. Sanctus asks Nero if he wishes to surrender himself and form the Savior's core together with Kyrie to which Nero refuses and attempts to rescue her, but fails and falls into Sanctus's trap. In the process, Sanctus takes the Yamato from Nero. Suddenly, Credo appears, enraged because Sanctus had used Kyrie, and attacks his former superior. Sanctus runs him through with Yamato, causing a mortal wound, and Credo falls off the Savior but is caught by Dante. He, together with Trish, witness as Nero is absorbed into the heart of the Savior. The Savior awakens and flies toward Fortuna. Credo asks Dante to honor one last request, to save both Kyrie and Nero, after which he dies.

Much later, Dante, having retrieved Yamato and destroyed all the Hell Gates, faces off against the Savior. After weakening the Savior's exterior, Dante thrusts Yamato into the core of the statue, awakening Nero and allowing him to escape the heart-like organ imprisoning him. After completing a number of trials within the Savior, Nero finally confronts Sanctus. Sanctus, having achieved even greater levels of power with the Sparda, asks why Nero betrayed the Order. Nero answers that Sanctus has done enough foul deeds to make Nero hate him. During their exchanges, Sanctus also scoffs at Nero for being held back by love.

Nero finally defeats Sanctus inside the Savior. In a final bid for victory, Sanctus implores Sparda for power, but his request remains unfulfilled. In a fit of rage, he asks why Sparda refuses to give him the power to kill Nero.

The sword remains silent, but Nero explains to Sanctus that although Sparda was a demon, he did have a heart, one that could love another person. Lacking this, the sword will not grant his request for power. Nero saves Kyrie and kills Sanctus, and they escape the Savior.

Although it seems that all is finally over, the Savior suddenly transforms into the form of the False Savior, taking on Sanctus' appearance. Nero asks to fight in Dante's stead, and Dante acquiesces. Nero offers a quick prayer to God, during which he explains how he's come to terms with his demonic power, and destroys the False Savior and Sanctus once and for all by using it.

Nero meets up with Dante, with whom he exchanges thanks and friendship. With Dante about to leave, Nero tries to return Yamato back to him, but he refuses to take it saying it's now entrusted to Nero. In their final moments together, Nero asks Dante if they'll meet again, but Dante just vaguely waves in answer.

Kyrie joins Nero as they both agree its all over, and although the city is in shambles they express no regret, instead they their desire to be together. Despite Nero's demon power, Kyrie show total acceptance of him. Nero returns the necklace to her and they nearly kiss, but they are interrupted by some remaining Scarecrows. Nero fights them off while Kyrie waits, agrees to kiss him later in the final scene.

Deadly Fortune
(Note:The Devil May Cry 4: Deadly Fortune novel depicts the events that happen before, during, and after the events of Devil May Cry 4 with some changes.)

Nero, hinted to be the son of Vergil, was born and shortly thereafter left on the doorstep of a orphanage, getting the name Nero from the black blanket he was found wrapped in. He would later meet Kyrie and Credo along with their family and together, the three of them grew up in the city of Fortuna. Throughout his childhood, he would be teased by many of the children in Fortuna, who accused him of being a bastard child of a prostitute due to the fact that no one knew who his mother was. He would also grow close to Kyrie and Credo's parents. Throughout his life, he would be taught in swordsmanship by Credo and grew closer to his sister, Kyrie. However, both their parents would soon be killed by demons. Unknown to Nero, they were humans who failed in maintainig their sanity in the Ascension Ceremony. This event would lead him to not believing god. Eventually, Nero would go join the Order of the Sword despite his conflicting beliefs due to the fact he idolized Credo and his sense of justice and also join for the sake playing a part of protecting Fortuna, a city Kyrie held dear.

However, he would gain the dislike of the members of the Order of the Sword due to his lone wolf nature, apparent terrible skills in teamwork, and utilizing guns within the other, in which contrasts to the Order's belief that battles should be fought with only the use of a sword much like Sparda did. However, Nero cared little for their beliefs.

One day, he had rescued Kyrie, who'm was attack by demons while walking with orphans in Mitis Forest. During the rescue, his arm was injured. And it later would change into what would be known as the Devil Bringer. Nero surmises the reason was that he reached a point in life where his arm would be what it is suppose to be due to his apparent demonic nature, much like how that of a caterpillar turns into a butterfly.

During DMC4
While events of Devil May Cry 4 took place, there are some difference within the novel from the game.

As he was being stabbed by Agnus and was dying, he thought of a dream he had been having recently. He met a man he never had met before, in which he described as having a "cold" glare but with a touch of "gentleness" (or kindness). The man asked "Can you hear it? The cry of a soul" and also asked him what his soul was "saying". However, Nero pushes the question back and asks him the same question, in which he replies with a smile "Power...I want more power." Hearing that, he replied "I'll take that too" and awaken his Devil Trigger, in which is the representation of his soul, and reconnected Yamato.

Powers & Abilities
In addition, to his great skills in combat, something that has earned him certain respect among his peers, Nero possesses the enhanced physical abilities of a demon. This combined with his already admirable combat skills makes Nero a very formidable adversary.

He showed several remarkable feats of immense power and amazing combat prowess, including defeating several powerful demons (Berial, Bael, and Echidna), countless demons on his way through the Mitis Forest, Credo who had gained a large increase in power from the Ascension Ceremony, killing Sanctus while he was in his final ascended form and powered by both The Savior and the Sword of Sparda's immense energies, and striking the final blow to the Savior, something even one as powerful as Dante was seemingly unable to do. In addition, Sanctus remarked that Nero had inherited Sparda's power.

Nero has shown the ability to channel his demonic power into objects from his gun to the air itself shown in his Charged Shot and Air Hike abilities.

Even before gaining Devil Trigger, Nero is shown to be extremely strong, able to easily block Berial's huge flaming sword, using only his left hand and Red Queen, and he even forced Berial's sword back with a strong thrust. Even without using his weapons and the Devil Bringer, he can still skillfully fight enemies having easily defeated a large group of Scarecrows using only hand-to-hand combat and a blade he'd taken from one of the demons, and one of his gameplay moves makes him perform a dropkick if he's running fast enough.

Devil Trigger


After the events in the underground laboratory, Nero acquires Yamato and the ability to use Devil Trigger with it. His Devil Trigger is quite unusual in that it doesn't transform Nero himself: instead, a blue, spectral demon avatar manifests behind him, wielding the Yamato.

This demon has a noticeable resemblance to the Vergil's Devil Trigger, mainly because of the "sheath" on its left arm, used for storing Yamato when it is not in use. Nero himself only acquires a blue aura, burning red eyes, and a deeper, echoing voice. The specter usually mimics Nero's movements, doing right-handed versions of Nero's attacks.

After acquiring Devil Trigger Nero gains the ability to fire Summoned Swords, similar to Vergil. He also gains the demonic ability of being able to instantly heal from wounds that would be fatal to normal humans, for example when he was repeatedly impaled in Mission 6 and later healed from the fatal injuries leaving no signs of injury left.

Weapons
Nero's primary weapons are his customized Durandal; the Red Queen and his customized revolver; the Blue Rose. He also extensively uses his demonic right arm, the Devil Bringer in battle which gives him an increase in strength as well as the ability to use mid to long-range attacks through his Buster. Although he wields the Red Queen and Blue Rose with his left hand, Nero uses the Yamato with his right, leading to the assumption that he is ambidextrous.

Nero appears to have a unique connection to the Yamato, as he was the only one capable of repairing the sword completely, which Agnus was unable to do. The sword is also the only item known to be able to damage Devil Bringer; after being stabbed into his right arm, it seemingly drains Devil Bringer of its power and severely weakens Nero himself. Nero also appears to possess some innate skill with the blade, as he is able to use it expertly from the moment he obtains it.

Devil May Cry 4 Refrain
In the iPhone version of the game, Nero becomes a boss character for Dante.

Marvel vs. Capcom 3
Nero is mentioned in Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds. After Dante is defeated by Deadpool, Deadpool says "Next time, maybe you should let Nero do your fightin', skippy."

Playstation Battle Royale
Nero appears as an icon in Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale.

Trivia

 * In the final battle against Sanctus, if you finish him off with the Devil Bringer, Nero will shout "Checkmate!" While in Devil Trigger, he yells "Jackpot!"
 * Nero's voice actor, Johnny Yong Bosch, voices Yang in Capcom's Street Fighter. He also voices Ichigo Kurosaki, the main protagonist of Bleach. The same actress who voices Kyrie, Stephanie Sheh, voices Orihime Inoue, Ichigo's possible love interest in the anime. The two have also been love interest voice actors for Eureka Seven, with Bosch voicing Renton Thurston and Sheh voicing Eureka.
 * The word "Nero" is Italian for "Black", but Nero's name is also a reference to the Emperor Nero of Rome. It was widely believed, even at his time, that he was the one who started the Great Fire of Rome, although some historians say otherwise. To deflect the blame, he targeted Christians, ordering some to be thrown to dogs, while others were crucified and burned.
 * Nero was actually born with the Devil Bringer and it later changed as a result of his arm being possessed by an evil force.
 * Nero's Devil Trigger is the manifestation of his soul.